Improvement in fire-arms



. 2 Sheets Sheet 1 H. SMITH & D. B. WESSON.

ARM

MAGAZINE FIRE No. 10,535. Patentedf'eb. 14, 1854.

H, SM & D B SON 2Sheets8heet2,

MAGAZINE FIREARM.

No. 10,535. Patented Feb. 14, 1854.

I'M- as! mr. ubmus PETERS comum'mumm. WASEUNGTON, o c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

H. SMITH AND DANIEL B. WESSON, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT |N FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,535, dated February14, 1854.

To all 'whom'it may concern:

Be ,it known that we, HORACE SMITH and DANIEL B. \VEssoN, of Norwich, inthe county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Guns, listols, or Firc Arms; and we dohereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figurel denotes a top view, Fig. 2 a side view,and Fig. 3 a vertical and central section, of one of our improvedfire-arms or pistols. Fig. 4 is a side view of the kind of cartridge tobe used therein, it being the same as is'used in that species of pistolsusually termed the Saloon pistol, .it being, as we believe, a Frenchinvention. This cartridge has its case of thin copper, and with aproiecting bottom that contains the percussion-powder, the ball beinginserted in the other end or top of the case.

In the drawings above referred to, A denotes the barrel of the piece,and B the stock or 1001;- case. Underneath the barrel is a long tube, C,that serves -as a magazine for carrying the cartridges. This magazineand the barrel have at theiiflrear ends a carrier or slide-block, D,whose ofiicc is to receive a cartridge from the magazine and transfer itor raise it up into line with the barrel. For this purpose the saidcarrier is caused to slide up and down within. a chamber, E, and to bemoved by a lever, F,. that plays or turns on a fulcrum, a, with thetrigger-guard G, which is also a lever, and made to turn on the same pina. A piston-slide, H, is also employed to force the can tridge out ofthe carrier (when the latter is raised to its highest position) and intothe barrel. The cartridges are placed one after the other in themagazine, and are pressed toward the carrier by means of ahelicalspring,

I, that bears against a' cylindric slider, K,from

which a screw-pin, b, projects and extends into and through a long slot,0, that is made lengthwise in the magazine, and opens into another andshort slot, (1, that is cut through a spring chamber or tube, L, whichis so applied to the barrel by means of a clasping-tnbe, M, as to becapable of being turned laterally entirely out of line with themagazine, so as to permit the latter to be supplied with cartridgeswhenever necessary. The slotdof the spring-chamber is turned at itsupper end a short distance at right angles to its main part. Thence itis turned down a short distance parallel to such main part, the wholebeingas represent d in Fig. 5, and for the purpose of confining thespring within the chamber in a contracted state. By

applying the finger to the head of the screw 7) and pushing the slider Ktoward the spring I, we can crowd the spring entirely into the chamberL, and so as to carry the screw 1) to the upper part of the slot (1.When this is the case, if we press the screw laterally into the bentpart of the groove, the-spring maybe preserved in place in the chamberwhile such chamber is turned out of line with the magaslide H and thelock or stock frame. They are moved up and down by an arm, k, projectingupward from the trigger-guard, and provided with one or more studs toenter and slide in a slot, -i,formed through or aflixed to the backtoggle.

When the toggles are brought into a straight line with each other, thepiston-slide H is moved hard up against the rear end of the cartridge,and serves as a breech to the barrel.

Fig. 9 denotes a top view of the pistonslide H. Fig. 10 is a horizontaland central section of it. The front end of the said slide is formedwith dovetail projections or a recess, a,-which flares or is made wideras it descends, as seen at M. Thisdovetail or re cess is for the purposeof withdrawing from the b: rrel, after a discharge, the metal of thecartridge. The forward pressure of the piston-slide and the blow of thehammer against it force the metal of the cartridge into the recess ordovetail of the piston-slide, and so as to cause it (the slide) to graspit (the cartridge) with sufiicientpower to enable it to be drawn out ofthe barrel when the piston-slide is next retracted. Having withdrawn thecartridge from the barrel and over the carrier, projections (1. 10 (seeFigs. 1, 3, and 6) on the carrier are forced in contact with it (the cartridge) by and during the next upward movement of the carrier, and expelit from the piece or fire-arm.

The cock or percussion-hammer is arranged in rear of the piston andbreech-slide H, and

turns on a'piuflt, and is made to strike directly against the rear endof the slide H,.and to inflame the priming by the concussion produced byits percussion or blow on such end. The

trigger is shown at P and the mainspring at Q. This cook orpercussion-hammer is also so arranged that it shall be elevated or setto full-cock by the back-pressure on it of the slide H, induced by thetoggles and the trigger-guard, when thelatter is moved away from thestock. Thus the trigger-guard, when so moved, is madeto simultaneouslycause the hammer to be cocked, the piston-slide to be #forced back, andthe carrier to be elevated.

The carrier-lever is elevated by the lower arm of the trigger-guardlever, and depressed by the upper arm thereof, the said carrier-leverbeing so shaped, as -seen in Figs. 7 and 8,

(which are side and top views of it,) and ap- Y plied to thetrigger'guard lever as to enable slide to force the cartridge out of thecarrier and into the barrel; nor do we claim the employment of apiston-slide, H, as a breech to the barrel, nor the firing by concussioninstead of percussion, nor do we claim the improvement of making orapplying the pecussionhanimerso as to strike on the rear end of suchpiston-slide, (instead of directly against the cartridge or itspriming,) and so that the priming at the front end of the slide shall beexploded by concussion produced by the percussion or blow of the hammeron the other end of it, as hereinbefore specified but \Ve do claiml. Thearrangement and application of the percussion-hammer, with respect tothe breechslide H and the trigger-guard lever, so that the hammer may bemoved and set to full-cock by the pressure or back action of the slideinduced by the action of the trigger-guard lever, as specified.

2. We also claim the improvement of making the front end of thepiston-slide with a dovetailed recess, a, or its equivalent, for thepurpose of enabling the slide to seize the metal of the cartridge, asabove explained, and'so that the refuse metal or cartridge in ay bewithdrawn from the barrel by the piston-slide when next retracted, anddischarged by the upward movement of the carrier, all substantially asspecified.

In testimonywhereof we have hereto set our signatures this 24th day ofMay, A, D. 1853. HORACE SMITH.

DANIEL B. WESSON;

Witnesses:

H; H. STARKWEATHER,

E. S. GRUTTEND N.

